A Marriage Interrupted
by Smenzer
Summary: Set at the beginnong of DMC. Elizabeth is thinking in the rain when someone unexpected appears. ElizabethJames oneshot


A Marriage Interrupted

Title: A Marriage Interrupted

Author: Smenzer

Characters: Elizabeth, Norrington

Pairing: Elizabeth/Norrington, mention of Will/Elizabeth

Rating: PG

Word Count: 1,800 words

Genre: Angst? Romance?

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine. They belong to Disney or whoever owns the Rights to POTC. This is just for fun.

Summary: Set at the beginning of DMC where Elizabeth is waiting to get married, thinking in the rain and someone arrives at the chapel. AU.

Author's Note: I originally posted this story on Live Journal under a different account.

Elizabeth Swann stood outside in her wedding dress, the warm rain hiding the salty tears that ran down her fair cheeks. She had always believed that a girl's wedding should be the happiest day of a woman's life, yet here she was crying. The sky above was a gloomy gray, reflecting her mood perfectly. She had spent hours getting ready for her glorious day and here she stood, alone. Where was the groom, the love of her life? It was already twenty minutes past the time the ceremony was supposed to have taken place and Will was no where to be found. Didn't he truly love her as he claimed? How could he do this to her, abandon her at the altar?

Her father hadn't actually approved of her marriage to a blacksmith, but he had agreed because he wanted her to be happy. He had tried to warn her that the young man might not be all that he seemed to be. Before she hadn't truly understood his words, not really. But now it was starting to sink in. She had trusted him, trusted him enough to give her heart away. Was he truly scared of commitment or did the pirate blood call too strongly within him? He certainly had adapted well to the excitement and danger during their adventures with Jack Sparrow, Barbossa and the cursed pirates.

Noise floated up to her ears from far below. Staring out to sea, Elizabeth saw a ship was arriving in port, men disembarking in longboats. There was even the very odd sight of someone sitting atop a horse in one of the boats but she gave it little thought. Those people had nothing to do with her and at the moment she couldn't care less.

Will, how could you leave me like this… 

Thunder rumbled overhead as she sunk down to the rough, wet stones in her dress; the wind plastering a soaked strand of hair to her cheek. The veil pinned to her hair tugged at her scalp as the wing yanked on it, attempting to rip it free; just as her heart had been ripped. She had been stupid, so very, very stupid. She could have had everything but like the foolish girl she was she had thrown it all away on some childish dream. And that's what marrying Will was, a childish dream, a dream about pirates.

She had meet real pirates and they hadn't been very nice at all.

James would never have left her at the alter like this, with all the guests inside gossiping excitedly that she had been stood up by a lowly blacksmith. It would be the scandal of all scandals…

No, he was a good man and she had broken his heart.

I'm sorry… 

After she had made her foolish choice, James had gone off on his ship chasing after the _Black Pearl_. Later she had heard from her father that his ship had been lost in a hurricane. The sole survivor of the disaster, guilt ate at his heart and he had resigned his commission as Commodore. Survivor's guilt was a terrible thing to live with and twice as bad for a commander as it likely was his decisions that led to the destruction of the ship – or that's how he saw it anyway, or so her father had said. She doubted it was really his fault. She had lived through a few hurricanes here in Jamaica and they were terrible forces of nature, often tearing full-grown trees right out of the ground. How any ship could possibly survive one out at sea was beyond her…

James, where are you? 

She would probably never know, probably never see him again. Hot tears ran freely from beneath her closed eyelids, her lashes sticking to the fragile skin beneath her eyes. The storm had broken what little remained of his heart. And he had loved her she knew that. She had seen the love within his eyes whenever he had looked at her. True, he wasn't very good at expressing that love to her out loud, not as Will often did, but was that really so important? He was calm and steady, a good choice to balance out her wildness. Together they would make a very good team but she had never allowed that to develop. Her father had chosen wisely for her and she had ruined it all. If they had stayed betrothed, they would know each other better by now instead of …

I'll never get married now… 

It was hopeless. She had had two men in love with her and now both were gone…

Lightning flashed overhead and the rain poured down upon her harder, the drops dancing on the rough stones around her. It helped drown out the sound of her sobbing.

The sharp retort of horse hooves on the stone pavement behind her caught her attention. Climbing to her feet with difficulty due to the weight of her soaking wet gown, she turned to glance behind her. A tall figure was there before her, made taller by sitting upon a white horse. Squinting, Elizabeth tried to make out who it was but couldn't. Her tears blurred her vision and the pouring rain obscured any details. A black cloak billowed around the mystery person, a cloak better suited to her own mood than his. A tricorn hat hid his features, as did the gray sky. Twin rows of marines appeared on the either side of the person, weapons held in their hands.

A cold bolt of panic shot through her body.

The figure dismounted smoothly, his boots clicking audibly as they made contact with the wet pavement. One of the marines stepped forward and took the horse's reins and then the tall, dark figure started to approach her.

Nervous, Elizabeth dropped the dripping bouquet of flowers and rushed to close the distance between them. When the military showed up like this unexpected, it could only be bad news. Had something happened to her father? Last she had seen him he said he was going to go keep the wedding guests occupied… Surely nothing bad could occur inside the chapel? Heart pounding, she skidded to a stop in front of him, her shoes sending up a small spray of water.

"Elizabeth," The person said softly as nimble fingers untied the clasp that held the black cloak closed. "You'll catch your death out in this rain…"

Eyes widening, Elizabeth stared open-mouthed as the mystery man swept the cloak off his own shoulders and gently placed it around hers, fastening the clasp neatly.

"And that I could not truly bare." He finished, a sad smile on his face.

Lightning flashed overhead, the bright light revealing the rich brocade of a dark blue Navy uniform with golden buttons and white trim. Warm green eyes gazed upon her, love shining in their depths. Torrents of rain poured of the feathered Navy dress hat to drip down the white powdered wig onto his shoulders. To her utter surprise, it was none other than James Norrington – the very man she had just been thinking of!

"James?" She asked, confused. "You're … back?"

"Yes, the Governor saw it fit to give me back my commission when I was fortunate enough to find one known and wanted pirate drinking in Tortuga. Luckily, this one had a far higher price on his head than Mr. Sparrow…"

Elizabeth stared at him. "What were you doing in Tortuga?"

"Drowning my sorrows?" He answered, a small smile gracing his lips. "But it doesn't matter, does it? The thing is I caught Barbossa and now I have my life back. And it would please me very much if you'd be in my life as well…"

Heart pounding, Elizabeth watched as he went down on one knee before her. Reaching out, he gripped her hand between his and gazed up at her. He truly was handsome in his uniform, even soaking wet and this was very romantic. A smile spread across her face, the smile washing away the gloominess that had filled her heart recently. The rain started to lessen and a weak beam of sunlight shone down atop them from the clouds overhead, making the moment seem more magical.

"Elizabeth, I love you. I would do anything for you. And seeing you alone in the rain like this breaks my heart. This should be the happiest day of your life. Allow me to make that dream come true? Be my bride? The guests are here; the food is here, the wedding cake and the priest. And if you need a groom, I'm ready to fill that position very eagerly. I won't leave you alone as he did…"

"Oh, James, I love you!" Elizabeth pulled him to his feet and promptly threw her arms around his neck, hugging him. To her utter delight, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her, stealing a kiss. His newfound boldness both surprised and thrilled her. Obviously living in Tortuga had changed him a bit and in her opinion, it was for the better. This Commodore she could live with very well. Pulling apart slightly, she stared into his eyes. "You kissed me and in public! What a fascinating development."

"I have decided that from now on I'm going to take what I want, with your permission, of course. The other, gentlemanly approach never worked well with you…" He admitted. "I think, Elizabeth, it is fate that brought us together. We are clearly meant for each other, don't you agree?"

"Yes, I agree." She grinned as she took his offered arm. "We are a smart match. It was I who was to blind to see that, but I am over my foolishness now. Can you ever forgive me, James?"

"There is nothing to forgive, Elizabeth." James said as he led her towards the double lines of marines, the sky rapidly clearing into a brilliant Caribbean blue. "Let us go find your father and tell him the news. I'm sure he'll be pleased."

"Very." She agreed. "I'm so happy that fate intervened or else I would have made a dreadful mistake!"

Grinning, James held out his arm for Elizabeth and they walked towards their future.

The End

AN: Originally this story had a different last paragraph but I have changed it, as it just didn't seem right.


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